By MetalMiner:
By Stuart Burns
Never, it would seem, has the oil market been in such a state of disarray.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, hit US$117 per barrel this week for the first time since August. The spot price has been rising on concerns over where the showdown with Iran is leading. European consumers have begun to cut back on purchases ahead of an outright ban when sanctions are introduced.
Meanwhile the Chinese, usually buyers of some 20 percent of Iran’s output (or about 550,000 barrels a day) are said to have cut back by 285,000 barrels in January and February, and are now extending this to March. This has less to do with supporting the Western embargo and more to do with slowing domestic demand and possibly some gamesmanship in applying pressure on the Iranians for bargain-basement prices.
Likewise, while India, Iran’s second-largest customer at an average 341,000 barrels per
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